Santa, like everyone else, needs to update his pilots license every two years. He usually schedules it in late November, just enough snow to make the sleigh run right, and the reindeer are up to full winter flying strength. So this year, the FAA instructor met Santa and they spent a bit more than an hour of review on the ground, going over charts, approach procedures, special ops for working with NORAD, etc.

Then it came time for the flying portion of the flight. The instructor watched as Santa pre-flighted the sleigh, checked the harness on each reindeer, made sure they were fed and watered appropriately for the flight. He verified that the red nose beacon on Rudolf was working, checked the weight and balance, made sure the GPS and other instruments were working. It was time to get in. As he climbed in, Santa noticed that the instructor was holding a rifle. Not normally required equipment for Santa's sleigh, so he asked the instructor why he brought a gun on board.

The instructor replied, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but you are going to loose an engine on takeoff!"